Wipe out exploitation, not just corruption

It has been a while since Mohammad Amir bowled those no balls at the Lords in England, but the scars it has left on the sport seem irrevocable by time. Fixing went up to a whole new level after that incident and a series that could have been the highest point in a bowler's career turned out to be nothing short of a nightmare. The important question in the entire episode though, is and always will be, not just why Amir actually bowled those no balls but what could drive a player to cheat on the one thing he loves the most?

When the English tabloid 'News of the World' first broke the story of the incident, most people had one word ringing in their head almost instantly, 'corruption'. A word that people from the sub-continent were well versed with, after all. While Pakistan were tarnished with corruption in cricket, their neighbours had to ward of claims of corruption in sports administration and telecommunication. Despite common belief though, if Amir's recent interview with Mike Atherton is to be believed, the greed for money was not what drove the former to cheat. The case seems to be more of exploitation rather than corruption.

In the interview with the former cricketer, Amir clearly mentioned that there was no talk of any money being involved on the day before he went out to deliver those no balls. He mentions how he had received and replied to texts from a businessman, Ali, and how Majid used this to exploit him. According to Amir, Ali had asked him to fix a few deliveries and he refused to do so. However, before that, he had already shared his bank account number with the businessman. Now here is how Amir left himself exposed to being exploited. Amir went on to say that although he refused the offers Majid met him and told him that the texts between him and Ali were now in the ICC's hands and that he was in trouble. The only way out for Amir according to Majid was to bowl two no balls as a favour and Majid would then use his links within the ICC to bail him out. Amir panicked and the rest is history.

The exchange of the bank account details and text messages was what led to Amir's downfall. It was this piece of information that allowed the parties involved to play around with him so easily. He shared the bank details out of a child like curiosity ingrained in a teenager and replied to the text messages in complete ignorance to what implications it might have. While doing so, he was so caught up in all the success he had achieved and so unaware of what was happening around him, that he did not for once stop to think that it might be necessary to share the events with either his team management or the ICC officials.

This is where the bigger question comes in. Did Amir, a teenager, leave himself open to exploitation or did the 'ICC' and the 'Boards' escort him into a battlefield, without even equipping him with the slightest bit of armour to shield himself. If Amir's interview is anything to go by, then one would certainly believe that a fragile youngster wasn't protected adequately by those who run the sport. They left a young, curious and naive mind out in the open to be picked upon. To say that the 'ICC' didn't care enough about corruption would be quite unfair, since they already have a structured system to take care of that. Then again, this wasn't entirely a case of corruption and this is where a bookie like Majid was able to find a loophole in the system that was set up by the ICC and the individual board, in this case, the PCB.

To see someone cheat for corrupt money is rather displeasing but to see someone getting coaxed into it by way of exploitation is nothing short of being horrifying. It was the lack of education about the evils of fixing and the lack of how to deal with being approached by a bookie that led to Amir ensuring that he would lose five years of his cricketing life. There obviously was no system in place at the grassroots level, that was either set up by the ICC or the PCB to teach Amir any of the above. England seem to have one and that has led to cricketers coming out in the open and talking about spot fixing in the Mervyn Westfield case, but sadly for Amir he wasn't born in England. He didn't have the privilege of knowing that he could stand up and talk to someone about what Salman Butt was leading him into.

Individual boards and the ICC need to work together on this and they need to do it fast. If boards can spend time and co-ordinate between themselves to arrange for certain fixtures for their benefit, they can certainly take this extra step to protect a player's interest. After all, if they are the reason that a player makes money out of the sport then they must ensure that they protect those players at all levels, in all ways possible. Be it physically or mentally, a player that plays for his nation and makes money out of it legally, must be cared for.

Yes, Amir was not protected well enough and yes he was young, but no, it did not give him the right to make all the wrong decisions. Then again, he might not have made those decisions if he had been educated about the right path.

It isn't the time to glorify Amir as a martyr, because what he eventually did under any circumstances is still disrespectful to the game and is still well and truly a sin. Despite that, it is very important for the ICC to use Amir as an example to understand how a player can be driven by a non-monetary motive to cheat. It isn't time to feel sorry for Amir for what was done with him. It is time to be empathetic towards the whole situation and ensure that no other young cricketer who plays the sport under the ICC or an individual board is ever toyed around with in the way that he was.

If Amir's interview is a documentation of the entire truth and nothing but the truth, then cricket has found a new evil and the ICC and the boards must find a new systematic way of battling it.